Gear

Lenses:

Cameras:

Tripod

What do you shoot with?

The majority of my photos were shot using a Canon 5D Mark III, however as of December 2016 I have upgraded to the Canon 5D Mark IV.

What is your favorite lens and why?

This question has different answers depending on what I am shooting. When shooting portraits my favorite lens is the Canon 35mm F1.4L II which is by far the best lens I have used from Canon, it is unbelievably sharp. When shooting landscapes and Astro photography I use the Canon 24mm F1.4L II; having an F stop below F2.8 is awesome, it allows me to capture great detail in the stars. I also like to use the Canon 70-200mm F2.8L II for landscapes as well, telephoto lenses allow you to capture totally different pictures compared to wide angle lenses, but can't be used all the time.

How do you shoot the milky way?

In my opinion, the milky way is probably one of the hardest things to shoot. The reason being is you 'really' need a fast lens, which is generally pretty expensive. It is best to shoot the milky way with a wide angle lens that has an aperture of at least F2.8 or lower, I use F1.4. You also need to have a tripod and dark skies be able to see the milky way with your eye.

Best advice for new photographers?

What is RAW Format?

Three tips for new photographers?

More questions?

Use YouTube. I can't stress this enough, YouTube is an unlimited source of knowledge. If you have any questions or want to learn how to do something literally just type your question into the search bar and I bet there will be a video explaining it. This is how I learned and was able to become a self-taught photographer.

There is a long and detailed answer (here) and an easier answer. I'll explain my way, imagine you have two drawings, one is a 2D stick figure drawing that represents JPEG format and the other is a 3D drawing of a person which represents RAW format. The 3D drawing has way more detail than the 2D, it has more color, shading, detail, and thought put into it. RAW format is basically the same, it is a file that is roughly five times larger than a JPEG file and has way more color information stored on it. With a RAW file you can adjust the white balance, shadows, and highlights, giving you way more control in post processing.

1. Shoot RAW, and never look back. 2. Edit using Adobe Lightroom. 3. Get the VSCO Film plugin for Lightroom.